Why Germany Is Rich But Germans Are Poor and Angry
Germany’s grossly unequal distribution of wealth is contributing to the country’s malaise.
A banner on a tractor reading "No Farmer, No Future", during a farmers protest against the German government's planned cuts to agricultural sector subsides, at Meseberg Castle in Brandenburg, Germany, on Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2024.
Photographer: Krisztian Bocsi/BloombergFor much of its postwar history, Germany was a beacon of prosperity and political stability. Now its economy is stagnating, and social harmony has given way to acrimony and division.
Germany’s grossly unequal distribution of wealth is an underappreciated cause of this malaise: The top 10% of households have at least €725,000 ($793,000) of net assets and control more than half of the country’s wealth, while the bottom 40% of households have at most €44,000 of net assets, according to a Bundesbank survey in 2021.1